Linda Perry: Let It Die Here Movie Review

Wow. Just… wow. This is an enormously candid, penetrating, insightful unmasking of an extremely talented woman who, as in the lyrics of her song “Fill Me Up,” sadly needs to be reminded if she had a good time in life. ​

You’ll see why I say that. Linda Perry, who, along with her band 4 Non Blondes, had a huge hit with the song “What’s Up.” If you were alive in the 90’s, it may have been your anthem. It might be stuck in your head now since I’ve mentioned it. Sorry about that. But this documentary isn’t about that. It’s about the dynamic and inspiring writer and musician we’ve not really had the pleasure of getting to know, though we’ve listened to her music all these years. We’ve listened to it, whether we knew it or not, as she has written for many artists. With Don Hardy’s brilliant directing, get ready to become more familiar with the daughter, sister, and mother she became through her success.

We see a bit of her strumming a song, seeing how she does it off the cuff. She’s surrounded by her guitars, who are waiting to see what Linda has for them today. Linda isn’t sure what she has for them or herself. She needs to get to know herself better, as mentioned at various times throughout. We are party to some of her journey. Some of the people she has written for are interviewed, she can write and produce for them, but isn’t sure who she wants to be. She battles with her purpose. She can’t even answer the simple question, “How are you?” She speaks bluntly about her struggles growing up, opening up about the abuse she took from an unhappy, unloving mother. She does charity work and writes for others, asking, “How is this good for me? I’m living for all these other things. At some point, when am I living for myself? She says she has to figure it out and find balance soon.

More is said about family and about her mother later in life, but just believe me when I say you have to see this practically just for how she deals with this alone. She scores films now. We’re given a look at the song, “The Letter,” and see some of the video. The song is her 16-year-old self writing a letter to her at forty. This is an incredibly passionate moment in the film where she allows herself to explore and “accept the unknown.” So much is said in the movie, I can’t share it all, so fan or not, see this. She has a lot more she still wants to do and say.

I hope she’ll be around making music for a long time, and we’ll get to see and hear those projects. In this documentary, we get a glimpse of her with her child, and I think we’ll get to know him more in the future, as well. This has very good animation, used for the moments when Perry bares her soul. It’s a good film. Don’t miss this, a chance to witness her brilliance and moments of self-doubt rarely captured on the big screen. It’s a great trip to take.